Some people are addicted to love.
Others are addicted to drugs.
I'm addicted to Target. Seriously....

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The latest Lilly/eBay injustice...

Readers, I'd like to share a little story with you and encourage you NOT to feed the vultures selling the Lilly Pulitzer for Target line on eBay. A friend of mine called me today after witnessing the following: a woman with a FULL cart of Lilly merchandise returning it at Target just to RE-buy it (and thereby extend her return deadline). This woman had everything: cups, dishes, bags, scarves, clothes, shoes, etc. - several hundred dollars worth of merchandise. My friend confirmed it with the Target clerk. This awful woman obviously returned what hadn't sold on eBay yet in order to try to sell it again within her new 2-week window. Shameful...

Catherine: Target isn't restocking the website. However, they are putting returns (both from store and online) out in stores as soon as they get them back in. If you are lucky and time it right, you can still find some Lilly merchandise in stores this way.

I am just amazed that the eBay vultures are being so brazen as to return merchandise and re-buy it in the effort to extend the return window. Target should really track suspicious returns like this.

Christine: Guest Services allowed the woman to repurchase the merchandise there at Customer Service (using a "different payment method" - so I'm guessing a different credit card) and my friend says the clerk seemed really annoyed to have to do that as it look at least 15 min.

aBeautyFairy: thanks for the heads up on Lilly returns with a RedCard. That's interesting, as I have a RedCard and there's nothing indicating that on my Lilly receipt.

I don't have an issue with reselling on eBay. But what these people have to take into account is that it's not selling for as much as it was that first week. And, after factoring in the seller's time, eBay fees, Paypal fees, and S/H you need to upcharge a certain amount to make it worth the time. I think it's okay to resell because those people obviously could not get it at their local store or online, they're willing to pay that much for it, so I don't get why it's pissing so many people off? It seems to me that the irritation should be directed at Target for not stocking more, but then again, it was clearly a limited edition. I stayed up in the wee hours to get a nice haul. Thanks to Target's glitches, I got multiples of some items (meant to order M & L b/c size chart wasn't working) and ended up with 2 Mediums and 1 Large in many cases. I sold it on eBay. I got what I wanted, returned a few things to store and sold the rest online. I charged fair shipping, shipped it same day, and everyone I sold to was really happy with their purchase and the process. In fact, one buyer won a dress from me then messaged to say that her order went thru and Target sent it to her. I gave her a full refund immediately, relisted the dress, and promptly sold it to another happy buyer. I started everything at $10 over list to recoup my costs & a fraction of the hours I spent from 2-3am trying to get the stuff. If it sold for more then great, if not, then someone got what they wanted for a fair price. That doesn't make me a bad person.

But I, like most people, have a problem with the morals of the shopper who returned and repurchased this stuff. If I were the clerk I would have told her no, that she'd have to wait until it was restocked and let her deal with the store manager if she threw a fit.

The thing that irks me is Target acts like they have no control over the ebay market when they clearly do to some degree. That control would be limits on quantities of course but also a different return policy. I mean, theoretically a person could return and repurchase the same items indefinitely. So how long would a ebay seller try to sell before finally returning the product. Will we see Lilly mysteriously show up in clearance in the Fall?

So Brooke W: did you just sell what you didn't need on eBay (the "wrong sizes you accidentally ordered", as you stated) OR did you purposely order items in bulk to resell on eBay for profit? Because that's what I (and other countless consumers) have an issue with. Like the man who I was told about who brought his two teenagers to my local store to fill 3 shopping carts with merch. to resell on eBay for a profit. It's the intentional hoarding and reselling at an outrageous markup that I have a problem with.

As a former store manager, I can guarantee you that refusing to allow a person to repurchase their returns would not fly. I have wanted to do this many times in my life when people have come in to return hundreds of dollars of merchandise in order to rebuy it during a sale 3 months later. There is no way to tell a customer that they cannot immediately repurchase something that they have returned, and if I had ever done that I would have gotten into a world of trouble from my boss.

This has happened to me. I purchased a candle at one Target at full price and the NEXT day went to another Target only to see the same item on clearance. (Strange how Target stores can have different pricing on clearance, or some stores will have merchandise at regular prices and others the same inventory at clearance.) I asked for an adjustment, they said since it was clearance there it could not be adjusted and if I returned it, then I would have to wait until they put it back on the shelf to repurchase. I returned it and just went and bought one that was on the shelf at the clearance price.I have heard of this policy at other stores too (Not only Target). I guess it depends which store you are at and who the customer service person is. It would be interesting to see a clear answer on this issue from Target.

Target Addict - I agree with your response on Brooke W.'s comments regarding the eBay aftermarket. Sure, it's one thing to sell a handful of items that didn't work out for you (although, you could just return them too). And, yes, there are some countries that don't have Target - even Australian Target is a completely different company.

But it's an entirely different issue to buy thousands of dollars' worth of items you ONLY intend to buy for resale. Yes, it's the grabbing and hoarding aspect that is problematic, and the only way Target can be responsible for it is to limit purchases - since people are not buying in a reasonably expected manner for normal stock selection.

Do I think those who rush the front door and literally swipe ENTIRE size runs of multiple dresses off a rack are questionable? Yes. Is it obnoxious to take all 20 bags hanging in every design? Yes. But, hey, I guess we live in a free market. Folks are free to do that, and I'm free to think it's rude. I mean, the only other time I have seen women grab a size run of merchandise is when they were shoplifting. Seriously.

Side note - I was told by a Target employee that they straight up had people fall down on the ground as they bum-rushed the clothing display on what has now been dubbed by some as "Pink Sunday" (as opposed to "Black Friday"). I mean, people ATE IT. I work in the legal industry and see slip-and-fall cases. I swear, if someone sues Target for injuries sustained during their "run" to grab Lilly Pulitzer merchandise, that'll be the icing on the "merde," as French people say.

I live in Canada so as our stores shut I didn't get the pleasure of dealing with the crush... I was super excited when I heard about but hearing all the stories of eBay greed kinda cheapens the product to me. I have no desire to own something everyone wants just cause it's trendy. There are still Missoni for Target items on eBay that have been the same ridiculous prices for years... Obviously in that case it's not really a smart resell buy if you've been sitting on the product unsold for years! I imagine some of the Lilly stuff will sit online for years at ludicrous prices unsoldi

I'm shocked that people are paying so much for the Target Lilly when there is beautiful "real" Lilly out there selling for unbelievably low prices. I sell on Ebay. I sold 2 Target Lilly items. Made double Target's price on a pair of pants within 20 minutes of listing them. They were cute, but they were rayon and not the quality you see in non-Target Lilly Pulitzer. I've never sold the "real" Lilly for as much as I sold the Target ones for. I was actually shocked. I was going to give the pants to my stepdaughter if they didn't sell.

Target REALLY needs to rethink how they've handled this mess and the ones in the past. If these people buy all the products and there is a limited return date, etc. then the LEAST they can do is not let these jerks game the system this way with the return policy. Ugh.